The water coolers of the ancient world were abuzz. “Have you heard about that
crazy desert preacher?” “ I hear he lives on bugs!” “I hear he called the
Pharisees a brood of vipers!” “Do you think it could be the prophet—or Elijah
resurrected?” John the Baptist caused quite a stir in his time, and developed
quite a following. His preaching was startling, convicting, passionate. Even
Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not
risen one greater than John the Baptist”(Matt 11:11).

Yet since John’s mission was to go before Jesus and prepare the way for Him
(Mark 1:2-3), the time came when John needed to fade into the background of the
Bible story and allow Jesus His place. It is with considerable grace and
humility that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”(John 3:30).
What can we learn from this statement?

First, permanent inferiority is OK! John always was, and forever will be,
inferior to Jesus—and he was perfectly comfortable with this! With all his
notoriety, John never deviated from this simple message: “I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I,
whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire”(Matt 3:11). John had no pretensions of greater glory than the coming
Christ. The Pharisees sent a list of questions to John—whether he was the
prophet, or the Christ, or Elijah resurrected—and John never rashly agreed to
any inaccurate designation (John 1:19-26). John knew who he was—and that he was
inferior to Jesus—and that didn’t bother him. Instead, “He must increase, but I
must decrease” reflects a mindset of complete humility in the face of one
greater. It is OK for us to not be first, most popular, best looking, most
intelligent, or most notable—even permanently!

John shows us that passing the torch is natural—yet still requires humility. “He
must increase, but I must decrease” is the thought of each passing generation of
God’s leaders who are looking to the future of Christ’s cause. It was the
thought of Moses preparing Joshua, and David preparing Solomon, and Paul
preparing Timothy and Titus. Yet we should never think that the need for a new
generation to take the reins of leadership in God’s work means that
relinquishing those reins is easy for a generation accustomed to them! We
desperately need the humility to say that we are not as important as the fate of
a local church, or the development of leaders in worship and preaching, or the
confidence of young believers. Let us promote and encourage them, acknowledging
that they must increase, and I must decrease.

John reminds us that the gospel is more important than any one person. Surely
his followers warned him to be quiet about Herod’s adulterous marriage (Matt
14:4) so that he could stay out of trouble and keep preaching—yet the gospel was
more important than what happened to John. Further, consider what might have
happened had John not stepped aside for Jesus—a power struggle, competing
teachers and disciples, and a prevention of many disciples from coming to Jesus.
Yet John ceding to Jesus allowed Jesus to say, “Assuredly, I say to you, among
those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but
he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”(Matt 11:11). The
gospel can make us greater than we could ever be on our own—and John’s stepping
aside allowed that gospel to come in its full power. We may advance the gospel,
or detract from its advance—yet it remains far bigger than we are! We must guard
against an inflated sense of self in spiritual matters!

“He must increase, but I must decrease” is a distillation of a humble heart. Are
we pursuing this humility?